Melody of a New Song
by ScribbleWiggy
Summary: Once upon a time there was a Hobbit who was written out of her story. Now that she has been reintroduce to that story, it is time for her daughter to participate in her own. The third installment of the Maybe I Won't Go Back Again series.
1. An Introduction

**The author of this FanFiction owns no storylines or characters that belong to the original creator of _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Rings_. **

* * *

**Hi! Hello! Look! Another _The Hobbit_ FanFiction! Holy shit!**

 **Uh, I guess I should begin by saying that I started writing this a while ago, and I stopped writing it a while ago, and then I remembered that I had it, and I was like, _well, might as well post a few chapters, see what happens._**

 **So, yeah! Here it is!**

 **In case you don't know, uh, there was a series, sort of, a while back, about my _The Hobbit_ OC, Cheyanne, who was written out of the original _The Hobbit_ story, and then reintroduce to it through her dreams... it's a pretty complex story line, so if you're interested, I would go check out my other two stories, _Maybe I Won't Go Back Again,_ and _Memories Apart From Reality_. **

**This story is the third and final installation to that series, featuring around Cheyanne's daughter, and is appropriately named _Melody of a New Song_ , for reasons that will become clear if you read on. **

**Uh... yeah, that's all I have to say for this starter's Author's Note. I'll catch you at the end of this first chapter.**

* * *

The King Under the Mountain knew the day was going to be either a great, or a horrible one. He'd been through both, and the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach was the one he had on both great days, and horrible days.

Still, he also knew that he needed to head into it with a brave face, despite the feeling. It was meant to be a celebration. There was no use worrying about it, when he could focus his energy into being overjoyed instead.

After all, it was hard to be overly worried when he remembered the day would be celebrating his child, and heir to his throne.

He finished putting on his cloak, securing the fastening on the front of it, and then checked his appearance in the looking glass over the dark oak dressing table in the main bedchamber of the royal apartment. He looked regal enough, he supposed. The focus wasn't meant to be on him, anyhow.

He exited the bedchamber and crossed the parlor of the apartment to the newest addition to the section of rooms high within Erebor. The door to the new bedchamber was partially open already, and Thorin paused with his hand outstretched towards it, listening to the humming that was coming from within.

He smiled to himself, and gently nudged the door open wider, poking his head into the room first.

Cheyanne, his Queen Under the Mountain, was holding the subject of today's celebration in her arms, humming as she twirled the baby around in front of the only openable window in Erebor, which it happened to be. A wave of sunlight washed over the entire room, and a light breeze lifted Cheyanne's skirts and the blankets on the baby's cradle.

The room itself, which had been designed for the purpose of raising a babe, was decorated in light hues of blue and pale purple, and the handcrafted cradle rocked back and forth on its mahogany legs as Cheyanne bumped into it on accident.

Thorin barely noticed most of this, as he was focused on his Queen, and her humming, which had progressed into soft lyrics instead.

" _You are my world, my darling  
What a wonderful world I see  
You are the song I'm singing  
You're my beautiful melody." _

Thorin stepped fully into the room as Cheyanne paused in front of the open window and gazed outside, most likely studying the plains beneath the Lonely Mountain. Her shoulders rose and fell, and she glanced over her shoulder in his direction. She smiled warmly when she saw him, and turned to face him.

" _Ibinê,_ we'd better be going," he said, walking over to where she was.

Cheyanne turned her gaze back to the baby in her arms. The princess was swathed in a beautiful purple dress that suited her small form and went well with the dark cloud of hair she had on her head. She let out a baby-laugh when she saw her father, and Thorin grinned to himself.

"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" Cheyanne asked him.

"One of them," Thorin responded, using one gentle finger to push a strand of hair out of the baby's eyes.

Cheyanne offered him a look, and Thorin smiled. "We have to go," he said again.

There was a knock on the door, and then Dwalin was poking his head through, and smiling at them. "Everyone is waiting," he informed the King and Queen, and then backed out of the room again.

Thorin and Cheyanne exchanged another glance, and then headed for the door of the nursery.

Bilbo was waiting outside of the royal apartment, and he clapped his hands together when Thorin and Cheyanne finally emerged, Cheyanne holding the baby in her arms. He moved forward to look at the baby, his unofficial niece, and she reached up to try and tangle a hand in his curls.

Bilbo backed away just in time, having seen it coming. Cheyanne laughed at him, and he rolled his eyes before turning and heading down the hallway at a much swifter speed than the other three.

Dwalin exchanged a look with Thorin, who merely patted him on the shoulder and then led the way down the hall after the Hobbit. Bilbo was passing Fili from where he stood on the stairs, gazing at the floor.

"Relax, Bilbo, please," he advised the Hobbit, glancing up as Bilbo raced past, before going after him.

They joined Kili, who was lounging in the throne, but he quickly stood up when he spotted Thorin and Cheyanne on the staircase. He shouted down towards the waiting group of Dwarves: "Their Majesties are coming!"

Balin, who was standing at the foot of the stairs, nodded and turned to the royal band. "Trumpeters ready; drummers, start drumming," he ordered with a clap of his hands.

Immediately, they began the fanfare that announced Thorin and Cheyanne's arrival, and Cheyanne exhaled, smiling. She glanced at Thorin, who smiled softly, and then she looked down at the babe, who was cooing happily.

A few Dwarves who spotted Thorin and Cheyanne first began to murmur excitedly to one another.

"Out at the Earth we look -"

"- we're from a book!"

"A meeting to bless our princess -"

"- she's apart of it and reality."

Meanwhile, on the Earth that everyone was very excited about seeing, Jon Davenport was quickly cleaning up the back room of Dreamer's, where the portal would be opened. He didn't want Gandalf scolding him for not taking care of the shop, and he was busy humming to himself as he glanced towards the wall that would be revealing Middle-earth over and over again.

He turned to the wall again after setting down a heavy book on a nearby desk, his grin growing as faint sounds began to drift through it.

What he could hear was the sounds of excited Dwarves, who were still talking about what could possibly be waiting on the other side of the portal, and what it would mean for them and their princess.

"There's never been, not ever before, a child born of tales and more!" one said to a companion, who nodded excitedly back.

The Dwarves were parting down the middle now, to allow Cheyanne and Thorin to get through. Gandalf waited for them at the edge of the crowd, and Dwalin stepped off to the side to keep an eye on the Dwarves, make sure they kept their hands to themselves.

Gandalf smiled at Cheyanne and Thorin as they reached him, and gestured towards the blank wall they would be using as the portal. Cheyanne nodded to him, and Gandalf gestured towards the babe in her arms with his staff. Almost at once, the wall seemed to slid open, and revealed a familiar sight: the back room of Dreamer's.

Jon was there, and he grinned when he saw the portal open, then waved at everyone. The Dwarves all cheered happily, and Cheyanne gestured towards the portal, which the babe had her big blue eyes fixed on.

" _This is your world, my darling.  
Fact and fiction, as one in you  
My hope for you for always  
Is your heart know that both are true."_

The baby laughed and reached for the portal. Cheyanne smiled, and brought her closer to her face, nuzzling into her soft black hair.

She then glanced at Gandalf, who was beaming rather proudly. The wizard took a step back so that Cheyanne could move closer to the portal, which was what she did.

Jon did the same, still grinning, and Cheyanne held out the small bundle in her arms through the portal and towards him. Jon blinked and gazed down at the dark-haired baby, who smiled and cooed at him, blinking her big blue eyes.

Jon's grin merely grew. He reached out a hand towards the baby, who immediately gripped his finger in her tiny fist, babbling baby talk and smiling a baby smile.

"Hey, baby Melody," he said, his voice low. He glanced at Cheyanne, and then at Thorin. "How do you say it, really?"

"Kamathi," Thorin responded, gazing down at his daughter with a loving look on his face. "Literally, 'element of the song'."

"There wasn't a word for 'melody' itself," Cheyanne explained. "We thought Kamathi was the next best thing."

"I'm just gonna call her Kam," Jon said after a moment, and Cheyanne laughed.

Gandalf poked his head around the edge of the portal, and Jon raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?"

"Just seeing how well you're caring for Dreamer's," Gandalf replied, eyeing the back room for a moment. "It seems clean enough."

"You don't get to be critical when you're not Gary," Jon informed him. Gandalf chuckled and disappeared again. Jon's attention returned to the tiny princess in Cheyanne's grasp.

"She's perfect."

"Isn't she?" Thorin queried, his words practically a hum.

"Oh! I brought her something," Jon said, reaching into his pocket. "Listen, Kam, you're a part of two worlds, so I figured that if you couldn't live in one, you could at least have something that reminds you it's real." He pulled his hand out of his pocket again and held it out towards the baby.

Resting on his palm was a minuscule version of _The Hobbit_ , dangling from a chain.

Cheyanne gazed at it, and then up at Jon, who gave her a half-smile and handed the necklace to Kamathi.

The young princess took it with eager hands, and... proceeded to start teething on the charm.

Cheyanne smiled, and Jon slid both hands into his pockets. "I'll assume that means she likes it," he determined, feeling rather airy.

Before anyone could say something more, Gandalf grunted and staggered a bit from where he stood off to the side of the portal.

Cheyanne looked at him in concern. "Gandalf? What's the matter?"

Gandalf glanced up, ready to respond, but Jon did it for him by letting out a yelp and jumping away from the portal opening.

Cheyanne withdrew Kamathi and backed away as a cloud of black appeared just beyond the portal itself. The cloud evaporated slowly, and Thorin scowled when a figure emerged from it, shrouded in black clothing. Gasps arose from the crowd as the Dwarves caught sight of the newcomer.

Before Cheyanne could react, a tendril of the remaining smoke darted out, wrapped itself around Kamathi, and drew the baby away from her.

"Kamathi!" Cheyanne exclaimed, grabbing for her as the tendril whisked the baby away through the portal to the figure that had appeared from the cloud, who was cackling in pleasure.

It was a man, and he had a head full of dark hair that matched the cloud he'd just come out of. His amber eyes were cold despite his laughter, and he looked out at everyone with an almost… well, dragon-like gaze, which was something most of them knew all too well.

"Who is that?" Bilbo asked, glancing around at the Dwarves who surrounded him. They were cowering away from the portal, and, most likely, the dark figure on the other side.

"One of the worst to have ever walked the face of Middle-earth," Balin murmured, watching the figure stride away from the portal, holding Kamathi in his smoky grip.

Gandalf had regained himself, and he straightened up to a standing position.

"Vicuthar," he growled, and set his staff down against the floor with a crack. "Surrender the baby or I'll -"

"Ah, ah, ah." The figure, Vicuthar, grinned at Gandalf and raised the baby upwards. He pressed a kiss against her cheek, and beamed at the group on the opposite side of the portal. "I'm so pleased that I could be here to see this," he said, raising his arms above his head. "It's been an age since a portal this strong was reopened back to my home. Now... I wonder why that is..."

He pondered it for a moment, and then scowled. "Oh, yes, now I remember..." He flew back to the portal and leaned through it, glaring at Gandalf. "You and the other wizards banished me!" Vicuthar pressed a hand against his forehead. "One minute you're on top, the next you're tossed out." A second tendril of smoke snaked out from his cloud and wrapped itself around one of the Dwarves' wrists. "Now, is that fair, Dwarf, I ask you."

The Dwarf shivered and yanked his wrist away, and Vicuthar retreated back beyond the portal. "Then again... who ever said we had to play fair?"

He snickered to himself, and then raised a hand over the floor of Dreamer's. Almost at once, a black opening appeared there, swirling and unyielding. Cheyanne watched in horror as Vicuthar lifted Kamathi up and over it, and she reached out a hand.

"Now, hand over the staff, Gandalf, or this little babe is another soul for the Dark Ones," Vicuthar warned, dangling Kamathi over the dark portal he'd created.

"You can have anything you want," Gandalf said slowly. "Just... don't harm the child."

"Anything I want?" Vicuthar smiled to himself and raised Kamathi a bit higher, away from the portal. "Interesting. Gandalf's staff, then I return to Middle-earth, and, eventually, gain all the powers of the universe!" He chuckled. "And it's not even ten o'clock. Not a bad morning."

Cheyanne glanced around, and noticed Jon standing back a few paces from the dark figure on his side of the portal, watching Kamathi with a worried expression. Cheyanne managed to catch his eye, and she gestured for him to get out of the way.

Jon nodded in understanding, and dove behind the desk. As soon as Jon was clear, Cheyanne reached over, grabbed Dwalin's axe from his hands, and threw it at Vicuthar.

The axe propelled through the air, and the banished wizard gasped and swerved out of the way. His quick movement caused his smoke to jerk, and a Kamathi went flying out of his grip. The axe let out a dull _thunk_ as it embedded itself in the front of the desk.

Thorin had leapt forward and held out his arms as the princess sailed through the air, giggling all the while. She made it successfully back through the portal, and landed safely in her father's arms.

Thorin rose to his feet and turned to Cheyanne, who hurried forward to take their daughter. "Kamathi," she breathed in relief, hugging the princess close to her chest.

Vicuthar had regained his senses, and was glaring at the axe. Jon rose up from behind the desk and started to scramble for it. Vicuthar let out a snort of disgust, and turned back to Gandalf.

"This is not over, Gandalf," he warned. "I will find you, and your precious Princess Under the Mountain."

Before Gandalf could react, Vicuthar disappeared into his black mist. When it was gone, Jon finally managed to pull the axe from the desk, and Gandalf released a breath.

"Who _was_ that?" Bilbo asked again, and the wizard glanced over at him before looking around at everyone.

"That was Vicuthar the Black," he said slowly. "An evil wizard who was vanquished from Middle-earth many a decade ago for his evil doings."

"And... you banished him to _Earth_?" Jon demanded, approaching the portal. Dwalin snatched his axe from him, and Jon backed away a bit, but remained glaring at the wizard.

"It was the one place we believed his power would be diminished enough that he would not be able to find his way back," Gandalf explained. "Now, however..." He gave Cheyanne a careful look. "Now that there is a palpable bond between Middle-earth and Earth... there is no telling what he could do."

Cheyanne glanced down at Kamathi, who was once again teething on the book charm that Jon had given her.

The queen closed her eyes for a moment, and let out a breath. "What does this mean, then?" she asked Gandalf, glancing sideways at him.

"It means that, as long as Kamathi knows of what she is, she will be able to open portals freely between her two worlds," Gandalf responded.

"And those portals could in turn allow Vicuthar access back into Middle-earth," Balin guessed.

Gandalf nodded. "If he were able to harness Kamathi's power, he would be able to return."

Cheyanne glanced up from Kamathi and met Thorin's gaze. He was watching her already, and they shared a look.

Cheyanne sighed, and glanced back down at their daughter. "Then we must keep Kamathi away from him," she said softly. "Until... until Vicuthar is dealt with, Kamathi cannot know about Earth." She closed her eyes again. "We will not tell her."

"But... Cheyanne..." Jon started, and Cheyanne opened her eyes to look at him.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but this is much too dangerous. Kamathi cannot know about Earth, or _The Hobbit_..." She reached down and pulled the necklace off of the princess, and handed it to Jon, across the portal. "... or even you, Jon."

Jon took the necklace and glanced down at it, sighing. "All right, Chey," he murmured. "You're right."

Gandalf glanced between Cheyanne and Jon, and then he approached the portal himself. "Jon, you must watch out for Vicuthar," he said quietly.

"Me?" Jon asked, paling. "Ugh..." He swallowed thickly and looked down at the necklace, before he grunted and tossed it down on the desk.

He and Cheyanne shared one final glance before Cheyanne cradled Kamathi to her shoulder and turned away from the portal, heading away from it towards the throne hall. Thorin went with her, a hand on the small of her back.

Kamathi peered over her mother's shoulder and gazed at Jon as she was carried away. Jon raised a hand to the baby in farewell. When Kamathi moved far enough away, the portal closed, leaving Jon alone in the back room of Dreamer's, sighing to himself. He glanced at the abandoned necklace, and then shook his head to himself and stalked out of the room with a frustrated snort.

In Erebor, the Dwarves began to drift away, murmuring to themselves, and Gandalf glanced downwards at his staff, frowning.

"Gandalf." He looked up at Bilbo's inquiring voice, and found the Hobbit gazing up at him. "Can you get rid of Vicuthar?"

"I can certainly try," Gandalf replied, carefully, "but in order to 'get rid of him', I must have the permission of the other wizards."

Bilbo sighed to himself and glanced down at the floor. "I'll bet that won't be so easy, will it?" he asked, and Gandalf shook his head.

"Not very, no," he agreed. "But... we all had a feeling that the Black wizard would reappear, one day." He glanced towards the stairs that led up to the throne hall, and frowned to himself. "I had hoped that it wouldn't be today."

Bilbo watched as Gandalf hit the floor with his staff, and then he reached through the small portal that appeared and pulled something through it.

"Gandalf?"

The wizard lifted the discarded necklace that Jon had given to Kamathi and gestured towards it with his staff. The small book charm glowed brightly in response, and then Gandalf pocketed it.

"What did you do?" Bilbo asked him.

"Nothing important," Gandalf answered vacantly, closing the portal again. "Do not fret, Bilbo."

The Hobbit frowned to himself, but did not question Gandalf further. Instead, he turned, sliding his hands into his pockets, and retreated up the stairs to the throne room.

"I didn't even know Vicuthar was a thing!" he heard Cheyanne exclaim as he neared the top.

"Calm down," Thorin urged gently. "We will keep Kamathi safe from him, I promise."

"How can we, Thorin?" Cheyanne demanded. "We have no say in whether or not Kamathi will be able to open these portals. What if she learns how to do it, even without knowing about Earth?"

Bilbo reached the top of the stairs and found Cheyanne pacing in front of the dais, shaking her head to herself. "Why does everything happen to us?" she asked.

Thorin reached out and circled his arms around her. Cheyanne allowed herself to be pulled into his grasp, and she let out a breath.

"I didn't want to keep her from her other half," she murmured. "It isn't right."

"It is safer, however," Thorin responded. "And, one day, you'll be able to tell her all about it. For right now, however, we must keep it hidden from her."

Cheyanne sighed to herself. She watched Bilbo step forward and pick Kamathi up from where she was on the floor, crawling around after one of the many enchanted toys Gandalf and Bofur had created for her. She giggled when Bilbo nestled his nose into her hair, and Bilbo smiled to himself at the sound.

He looked up and met Cheyanne's gaze. "Don't worry," he said. "Gandalf is going to talk with the other wizards and see what they can do about Vicuthar," he told her. "Kamathi won't have to be hidden from her other half for long."

Cheyanne stepped forward and took her daughter from Bilbo's arms. "We'll see, Bilbo," she murmured, and then she turned and carried Kamathi away up the stairs to the royal apartment.

Bilbo and Thorin watched her go, and then Bilbo glanced at Thorin. The king was still studying the stairs that his wife had disappeared up, and his shoulders raised and lowered before he looked at Bilbo.

"You aren't resentful, are you?" Bilbo asked. "About... all this?"

"What is there to be resentful about, Master Baggins?" Thorin queried. "I love my wife, and I love my daughter."

Bilbo let out a breath. "Do you resent the fact that... they aren't... normal?"

Thorin actually smiled. "I believe that Cheyanne may be more normal than you or I, or anyone else," he told Bilbo. "Kamathi, however..." He exhaled. "It is who she is, and I will love her no matter what may come because of it." The king glanced at Bilbo. "I have no doubt that Gandalf will make short work of this Vicuthar business, and everything will be fine."

Bilbo wished he could share Thorin's hopefulness, but he had a sinking suspicion that things would be much more difficult than they planned. As was the case for most of the things they were involved in, and especially when Gandalf was in charge of creating them

Upstairs, in the royal apartment, Cheyanne cradled Kamathi close to her chest as she carried the baby into the nursery. Kamathi reached up and tugged on a strand of Cheyanne's hair as she walked over to the open window and gazed out it again, exhaling.

She then glanced down at Kamathi, and couldn't help but smile to herself. Her daughter was blinking up at her, and the baby smiled when she saw her mother do so.

Cheyanne set her down in the cradle, and let her hand linger within it for a moment. Kamathi grabbed onto it with tiny fingers and gurgled.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Cheyanne said to her. "I wish this wasn't the way it has to be." She sighed and glanced down at the baby again. "It's safer, however, if you do not know, and aren't tempted to open a portal." Cheyanne rolled her eyes. "Only Gandalf knows why he gave you _that_ power."

Kamathi let out a noise that seemed to be one of shared distress, and Cheyanne chuckled to herself. "My thoughts exactly." She turned her gaze back to the window. "Someday, I'll be able to tell you all about it," she said quietly. "I promise."

Later on that night, while the rest of Erebor slept, a restless princess let out a cry, knowing that one of her parents would appear to comfort her if she cried loud enough, and long enough.

In their bedchamber, the King and Queen Under the Mountain were roused from sleep at the same time when their daughter's cries reached them through the wall.

"Sleep," Thorin said when Cheyanne started to sit up. He leaned over and kissed her lips, found easily despite the darkness. "I will go to her."

Cheyanne smiled gratefully through the kiss, and then rolled over, away from him.

Thorin slid off of the bed and made his way towards the bedchamber door, not bothering to light a candle. He could see just fine without one.

He made his way through the darkened parlor, and to the partially opened door of the nursery, Kamathi's cries growing louder as he walked closer to where she was.

He opened the door wider, and slid into the room. Almost at once, Kamathi's crying ceased. He could see her, propped up against the bars of the cradle, and Thorin walked towards it.

"Crying, again?" he chided lightly, and Kamathi blinked up at him, her blue eyes glowing in the moonlight coming through the floor to ceiling window in the room.

Thorin sighed. She expected something from him, but he was very tired, almost too tired to grant it to her. He knew, however, that now that she'd gotten his attention, she wouldn't let him leave.

So, Thorin climbed into the cradle. Kamathi cooed happily as he settled down on the bedding as best as he could, his legs bent at the knee and the top of his head brushing the opposite end of the cradle. He hushed her, and Kamathi crawled towards him, settling her small form down across his chest, head nestled in the hollow between it and his throat. Her hair was soft against his chin, and Thorin slid one arm behind his head, and rested the other hand lightly on his daughter's back.

Eyes closed, he began to hum to her, the same melody that Cheyanne had been singing earlier on in the day.

At some point, Kamathi drifted back to sleep, and Thorin followed shortly after, and that was how Cheyanne found them the next morning, when she woke up to find that Thorin had not returned to their bedchamber.

She smiled at the sight of them, and imagined all the complaints that would come from Thorin throughout the rest of the day about how his neck hurt.

* * *

 **Well! That was a beginning!**

 **In case no one else can see the reference, a lot of this was inspired, pretty heavily, but _The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea_. Expect to see a lot of references to that movie, as well as other pieces of media. Sometimes a story's so good that you gotta retell it in your own way. **

**I probably won't have a strict updating schedule, since the story isn't finished, but for now, keep an eye out? Because more chapters will follow? At some point?**

 **I don't know. I'm a college student; priorities.**


	2. 2 Years - 2 Months

**The author of this FanFiction owns no storylines or characters that belong to the original creator of _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Rings_. **

* * *

**Just gonna upload another chapter even though there were no reviews/follows/favorites since the first one because uh, this... the document is 152 pages long, and I really want to be able to delete it from my Google Drive!**

* * *

The world was very big to a two-year-old, even if that two-year-old was confined to the walls of the apartment that she and her family resided in. In fact, _everything_ was big to her, including her cradle, and the shelf that her mother often pulled a book off of to read to her before she fell asleep at night.

Still, despite the fact that everything was so big, it didn't stop her from opening her door into another room, one that was always much brighter than her own, and one that was filled with books, even more books than the ones on her shelf that Mama read to her.

She liked to toddle over to those book, and try to pull one off of the shelf that it sat on, but she could never manage to do it. She just wasn't strong enough. Not yet, at any rate. She resolved that, when she was a bit stronger, she'd read all the books she wanted from this bright room, the one that was hidden in the walls of her nursery.

On one excursion to this bright room, she was trying to pull a book off the shelf, thinking that she must be stronger than she had been before the nap she'd been laid down to. She had renewed energy, and she grunted as she struggled to pull the book from the shelf so that she could read it.

"Oh my God."

She froze when an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind her, and she fell to her rump as she let go of the book. She looked over her shoulder, and up at the source of the voice.

Jon Davenport had almost tripped over the young toddler he found himself staring down at now. As his heart settled back to a more appropriate speed, he let out a breath and set down the books he'd been carrying on top of the shelf she was seated in front of, and then took a few steps back so that he could look at her without craning his neck.

The kid was no longer than the length of his forearm, and had a full head of black, shaggy hair. She blinked her blue eyes curiously at him as she tilted her head, examining him, obviously wondering if he was a threat or not.

From the inquisitive tilt of her head, to her blue eyes and dark hair, Jon immediately recognized who this child was, and how she'd managed to get into Dreamer's.

"Kamathi," he said softly, practically to himself.

Nonetheless, the kid's eyes brightened, and she grinned at him. She had teeth, so she needed to be at least two, now, which was impossible, considering he'd barely seen her a month and a half prior. She wobbled unsteadily to her feet, and took a tentative step towards him.

Jon let out another breath. "It's all right," he said to her. "You don't need to be afraid of me."

Kamathi hesitated, still uncertain, but then she took another step towards him, and then another.

Jon offered her a weak smile. "That's it," he said.

Kamathi walked slowly towards him, and when she reached him, Jon crouched down to be closer to her level, and he met her gaze. Kamathi stared at him for a moment, and then she turned and pointed to the shelf.

"Book!"

Jon couldn't help it; his grin grew. "Book?"

Kamathi nodded, and turned around, toddling back over to the shelf. She patted the spine of a book, and looked over at him again. "Book."

Jon couldn't believe this. Just as he'd met Cheyanne over a book, he was now meeting her daughter over one as well. And he had a feeling that if he crawled close enough to see the book Kamathi was patting, he'd see that it was the same book that he'd first bonded with her mother over.

So, he crawled over to her, and sat down beside the toddler, who looked at him, smiling again. He glanced down at the book she had her hand on, and let out a breath. The golden words that shone from beneath her fingers read _The Hobbit_.

"I don't think you'd like that book, Kam," he told her.

Kamathi's smile faded, and she glanced between him and the book, before she patted it again, with more fervor this time. "Book!" she insisted.

Jon wondered briefly if 'book' was the only word that she knew.

"There's plenty of other books," he said, gesturing towards the shelf. "I think you can pick another one."

Kamathi's face went through all the emotions of a toddler who'd just been told no, and was having to come up with another option. She glanced between him, and the book, and back again, and then she let out a noise of despair and sat down, right in Jon's lap.

Jon stiffened, and he looked down at the top of Kamathi's head, covered in her shaggy hair, then glanced around the shop, desperate to figure out what he was supposed to do with a toddler who most definitely didn't belong here.

"Uhm, okay," he said after a moment. He shifted so that he was seated more comfortably on the floor, and then he reached for the closest book he could grab, which happened to be a Dr. Suess.

Thanking his lucky stars, Jon set the book down across his lap, which in turn set it down across Kamathi's, and he opened it up to the first page.

"See?" he started, pointing to the colorful image of the Cat in the Hat that appeared on the title page. "This is a book you should be reading."

Kamathi's eyes rested on the Cat, and she reached out a hand and touched the image with her tiny fingers. After a moment, she giggled, and Jon's heart broke into a million pieces.

 _Crud_ , he thought to himself as he turned the page to get to the actual story. _I'm about to fall in love with this kid._

Jon decided to stick with his plan nonetheless, and he began to read: " _The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, all that cold, cold, wet day._ "

By the time he'd reached the point of the story where the Cat came in, Kamathi was leaning back against his chest, her hair tickling his chin, and she was touching the images that appeared on each page, as though she was studying the pictures and understanding how they connected to what Jon was reading to her.

" _... then he fell on his head! He came down with a bump, from up there on the ball, and Sally and I, we saw_ all _the things fall!_ "

Kamathi let out a tiny gasp, as she pressed her hand against the image of the Cat falling off the ball, with all the things he'd been holding falling as well. She worriedly glanced back at Jon, as though asking him if everything was going to be all right, and Jon went on reading in order to show her that it would be.

He read about the Cat bringing in his Things to clean up the house, and Kamathi laughed a bit at their antics, pointing to the picture of the Things wrecking the house further. When the book took another abrupt turn, however, when the children's mother was about to appear, Kamathi went solemn again, obviously certain that nothing would end well for the children, for the fish, or for the Cat in the Hat and his Things, who left the house in a sad state.

" _... and THEN! Who was back in the house? Why, the Cat!_ "

Kamathi brought her head up in surprise, and gasped when she saw the picture of the Cat returning to the house, to clean up the mess he'd created. Jon smiled to himself when she clapped her hands together excitedly, and went on: " _'Have no fear of this mess,' said the Cat in the Hat. 'I always pick up all my playthings and so… I will show you another good trick that I know!'_ "

Jon read to her about how the Cat cleaned up the house, and Kamathi bounced up and down on his lap in happiness. He read to her about how the Cat and his Things left just before the children's mother came home, and he read to her about how their mother asked them what they'd been up to all day.

Kamathi leaned forward as he finished the last stanza: " _Should we tell her about it? Now, what should we do? Well… what would you do if your mother asked you?_ "

Jon turned the page, and smiled to himself. "The end."

Kamathi grabbed for the edges of the book herself, and turned the page again, to the inner back cover. She cooed when she found the pictures of the Cat there, and she patted the images with both hands.

Jon exhaled, and leaned back against the shelf, letting the toddler look at the pictures and babble to herself. He knew that he needed to figure out how to get the kid back to Middle-earth before there was a panic, but he had no idea where to even begin.

"Kamathi," he said after a moment, deciding the best place to start was with the one who'd brought herself over in the first place. "Do you know how to get home?"

"Home." The toddler fiddled with the book for a moment, as though debating his question before responding. "Door?"

"Sure," Jon said, thinking of the portal, "you might've come here through a door of some sort."

Kamathi grunted as she struggled to stand up, still gripping the book, and Jon gave her rump a gentle nudge to get her upright. Kamathi then waddled over to the nearest blank wall, book in hand. She set it down on the floor, and straightened up again.

Jon watched as she pressed her hands together, and then she spread them apart. Immediately, a portal opened up on the wall, and Kamathi bent down to get her book, and then looked at him, clutching it to her chest. It was almost as big as she was.

"Home?" she asked, looking at the portal, and the blue and purple room on the other side.

Jon slid closer to the portal and peered through it for a moment. It certainly seemed like it might be her nursery in Erebor; there was a cradle, and a shelf that had a few books scattered on it.

"Yep, I think you did it," Jon agreed, relieved. He looked at her. "I don't know if I can let you take that book, though, kiddo."

Kamathi frowned at him, her little eyebrows drawing together. She squeezed the book closer to her chest. "Cat," she said sternly.

Jon smiled wearily. "All right," he sighed, "I guess you can keep it. But… don't let anyone see it, all right?"

Kamathi immediately grinned at him. "Cat!" she said happily.

"Kamathi!" The door of the room on the other side of the portal opened, and in rushed Fili, looking rather upset. He let out a relieved breath when he spotted the portal, and he hurried over to it, crouching down beside it. "Kamathi, what are you doing?"

"Book!" Kamathi told him, holding it out proudly.

Fili gazed at it, and then he looked at Jon, who offered him a wave of his hand. Fili nodded back, with an expression that said _Thank you for watching her_ , and then he reached into the portal, grabbed Kamathi beneath her arms, and pulled her out of Earth. The portal closed almost at once.

And as soon as she was gone, Jon realized with no small amount of dread that he did, in fact, love the kid.

In Erebor, in another world, Fili was holding Kamathi tightly in relief. "Don't do that," he scolded her. "You scared me."

"Book!" Kamathi said, dropping her book in favor of reaching for the wall that the portal had been on.

"I know, I know," Fili told her, bending down to retrieve her book, "but you don't go there. It's dangerous."

He handed her the book, and then he set her down on the floor again, taking her hand. Kamathi made a distressed noise, and let go of the book, to reach once more for the wall, her tiny mouth tilted in a frown.

"Come on, Kamathi," Fili said, tugging despite the fact that she was still looking at the empty wall. "You father wants to see you."

Kamathi finally allowed him to pull her away at the promise of seeing her father, and Fili led her out of the nursery into the parlor, where Thorin was seated in one of the armchairs, going over one of his many reports on the mines.

"See? I told you; she was just waking up from her nap," Fili said, ushering Kamathi forward towards where her father sat.

Thorin smiled down at her; Kamathi giggled when he bent down to scoop her up into his arms. "Ah," he said, and then he pressed a kiss against the tip of her nose. Kamathi cooed, and tangled one of her hands into his hair, resting the other against his cheek.

"Kamathi," he started, looking at her, "you are the next great leader of our people."

A door opened, and Kamathi's eyes brightened when she saw her mother. She let go of her father's hair, and held her arms up to Cheyanne, who took the toddler up into her grasp and kissed her forehead.

"And you're going to do wonderful things, my sweet melody," she told Kamathi.

"Yes," Thorin agreed, "but first, you must learn where you're meant to be."

Cheyanne looked at him in surprise. "Right now? Are you sure?"

"She just woke up from a nap," Fili put in, and Cheyanne looked from her nephew, to her husband, and then to her daughter, who was beaming up at her.

"All right," she conceded after a moment, "but not for very long."

Thorin nodded and stood up himself, taking Kamathi back from her. Cheyanne watched as he carried her out of the apartment, Kamathi's eyes wide, and then she looked at Fili.

"Do you think -?"

"I think it's the perfect time," Fili said. "Kamathi's beginning to understand things more strongly now."

Cheyanne knew that was true, but she still didn't know if she wanted Kamathi to know that Erebor was much bigger than just the confines of their apartment. After all, with that knowledge came the need to explore.

Thorin carried Kamathi down the corridor and to the steps that would take them down to the throne hall. When he'd reached the bottom, he walked around to the front of the throne, and set Kamathi down before it.

"There," he said, crouching down beside her. "You see? That is the throne of Erebor."

Kamathi gazed at it, her forehead wrinkled in concentration. After a moment, she toddled forward until she could lean her hands against the base of it, and she looked over her shoulder at Thorin, who smiled encouragingly.

"One day, you're going to sit there, like I do now, and like your great-grandfather did before me," he told her, "only you'll be the first Queen Under the Mountain to ever do such a thing. It's quite a big deal, _kurkarukê_."

Kamathi turned her eyes back to the throne, and gazed upwards, towards the vacant area where the Arkenstone had previously presided, before it had been taken and turned into something less obnoxious, but still quite special.

The Princess pointed to the empty space, looking at her father questioningly, and Thorin nodded, walking over to where she was. "A special gem used to be there," he told her, "but the gem was taken down."

"Why?"

Thorin smiled a bit. "It was dangerous to have it there," he replied.

"Where?" Kamathi questioned.

"Somewhere safe," Thorin said. She frowned at him, so much like Cheyanne did when she knew that Thorin wasn't telling her a whole truth. "Do not worry, _kurkarukê_. One day, you will know the tale of that gem, but not yet."

Kamathi turned her eyes back to the empty space, and tilted her head for a moment, considering it. After a time, she looked at him again. "Else?" she said, pointing up to it.

Thorin took a moment to interpret what she meant. "Why don't we put something else up there?" Kamathi nodded, and Thorin shook his head. "It's not necessary."

Kamathi seemed annoyed by this, because she frowned up at the vacant hole. "Somet'ing," she insisted at last.

"I think it needs to be filled in," Thorin told her, frowning at the hole himself. "Too many bad memories."

Kamathi thought about this, and then she repeated what he'd said: "Fill in."

"Yes," he agreed after a moment, looking down at his daughter once more with a tiny smile. "That is a good idea, Kamathi. I'll have to ask someone to do it."

She smiled right back at him, and then held up her arms to him. "Up!"

Thorin scooped her up, and he pressed his forehead to hers. "I think you'll find the throne quite comfortable," he told her, carrying her back towards the stairs, "at least in a metaphorical sense."

He carried her up to the apartment again, and found Cheyanne sitting down to tea with Dwalin, who glanced up when Thorin entered the parlor. He grinned when he spotted Kamathi, and the princess held out her arms to him, recognizing him immediately.

Dwalin accepted the toddler onto his lap and bounced her up and down as he watched Thorin take a seat beside Cheyanne. "You showed her the throne?" he asked, and Thorin nodded.

"We decided together that the hole where the Arkenstone was needs to be filled in," he said.

Cheyanne glanced down at her wedding ring, which held a small bit of the Arkenstone. "About time," she said. "That hole does nothing but remind everyone of what happened."

"Indeed," Thorin responded, glancing over the table towards Dwalin. "What do you think?"

"I think that you should've filled it in a long time ago," Dwalin responded after a moment, offering a biscuit to Kamathi, who took it in eager hands and began to munch on it.

Thorin nodded in complete agreement, and looked over at Cheyanne. "She seemed to know what I was saying."

Cheyanne glanced up from where she was stirring honey into her tea, and raised an eyebrow. "You sound surprised," she said, and Thorin shook his head.

"Not at all," he replied. "It was just a comment. Has she been interacting more with what you say, too?"

Cheyanne looked at Kamathi, who was finishing up with her biscuit and pulling on Dwalin's hair. "I think so," she said after a moment of thought. "She's smart, Thorin. You know that she can already read?"

"Can she really?" Dwalin asked in surprise, pulling his hair out of Kamathi's hand.

"Well, perhaps it's more like her repeating what's already been read…" Cheyanne thought this over, and she shrugged. "It doesn't matter. She's smart."

Thorin chuckled, and reached over to take Kamathi from Dwalin when she started to blubber. He held her up so that she could see over the table, and, when she caught sight of her mother, she reached out with both hands and grabbed for her.

"Mama!"

Cheyanne offered Thorin a look of triumph, and the King rolled his eyes before handing Kamathi over to her. The young princess cooed happily as she exchanged hands, and she buried her face in Cheyanne's shoulder once she was seated on her lap.

"See?" Cheyanne queried, looking at the two Dwarves. "I told you she was smart. Smart enough to recognize the better parent."

"Don't you dare go there," Thorin warned, frowning at her. "You will not win that battle."

Cheyanne didn't seem to be listening anymore. She'd returned her attention to her tea. Thorin offered Dwalin an exasperated look, and Dwalin smiled to himself, settling back against his chair. He thought they were both fine parents.

* * *

 ** _Kurkarukê_ means 'tiny raven', I believe. It's been a minute. **


	3. 4 Years - 4 Months

**The author of this FanFiction owns no storylines or characters that belong to the original creator of _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Rings_. **

* * *

"Kamathi!" Bilbo exclaimed, poking his head into the nursery, where the princess was _supposed_ to be, but was not. The Hobbit let out a frustrated grunt and retreated back into the main parlor, wriggling his nose.

Where could the child _be_? She was only four, and rising to the height of his knee. She couldn't have gone far.

Could she?

"Oh, dear," Bilbo murmured as the thought settled, and he quickly dashed into the main bedchamber. "Kamathi?" He peered under the bed, hoping that she was merely playing a game that he had not been clued into, but she was not there, either.

"Ooh…" Bilbo cursed a bit and started to sit up again.

"Looking for something?"

The Hobbit hit his head on the bed as someone spoke and startled him. He groaned and rubbed at the bump before turning and looking at whoever it was that had spoken.

Gandalf was standing there with his hands on top of his staff, gazing down at him, an eyebrow raised.

Bilbo huffed a bit and settled onto his knees. "I don't know where Kamathi's gone," he admitted, glancing around the bedchamber.

Gandalf sighed to himself and tapped on the floor with his staff. Immediately, one of the walls of the bedchamber seemed to slide open, and a laughing Kamathi stumbled out of it, pushing her hair back out of her eyes.

"Unca Bilbo!" she exclaimed happily when she saw the Hobbit sitting on the floor. Immediately, she ran across the room and dove into his lap, and Bilbo grunted a bit from the force, glaring at Gandalf all the while. Kamathi nuzzled into his neck, and his glare faded.

"What did I tell you?" Bilbo asked her, exhaling. "You aren't supposed to hide where I can't find you."

"But then it's not hiding," Kamathi responded with a yawn.

Bilbo shook his head to himself, but all the same hugged her closer, glancing up at Gandalf again. The wizard was watching Kamathi with a bemused expression, halfway between worry and pride. The young Dwarf-Hobbit had faded away into sleep, which was a blessing, considering Bilbo had been trying to find her in order to put her down for a nap.

He managed to scoop her up into his arms and carry her out of the bedchamber and to her own, Gandalf trailing after them. When Kamathi was in her bed, Bilbo retreated from the room, closing the door part way behind him. He then turned to Gandalf and crossed his arms, foot tapping.

"What?" the wizard asked, frowning at him.

"You cannot encourage things like that," Bilbo replied, gesturing in the direction of the bedchamber. "If Cheyanne and Thorin knew that she was doing that…"

"She isn't going far, Bilbo," Gandalf said, settling down into an armchair with a sigh.

"No, but she's still opening portals, and it's dangerous!" Bilbo retorted. "Soon enough, Vicuthar will catch on, and he'll take advantage of these little hiding games she plays."

Gandalf shook his head. "If she's hiding, he can't find her, can he?"

"What?" Bilbo asked, sinking down into an armchair of his own.

"Kamathi goes through her portals to Earth, and then they close," Gandalf explained. "She hides them, essentially. If she can hide them from us, she is obviously hiding them from Vicuthar as well, which is partially the reason he has not yet found her."

Bilbo's frown deepened. "So, what you're saying is that Vicuthar is only drawn to open portals," he said slowly.

"Yes," Gandalf replied with a nod. "As long as Kamathi remembers to close them, there should be no problem."

Bilbo snorted. "Aside from the fact that Cheyanne is going to lose her mind when she realizes." He blinked. "And Thorin is _not_ going to be happy, either."

"Not going to be happy about what?" Both Hobbit and wizard turned to find Fili standing in the open doorway of the apartment, his arms crossed.

"Nothing," Bilbo mumbled, sliding out of the chair. "Are you here to take over?"

"That's what I was told," Fili responded, stepping into the room.

"Thank you," Bilbo said. "She just went down for a nap, but with her energy, I don't expect it to last much longer than a half hour." He exhaled and looked between Gandalf and Fili. "I'm going to try and take a nap of my own."

The two of them watched the Hobbit leave the apartment, the door closing behind him. Fili then turned to Gandalf with a raised eyebrow, and the wizard sighed to himself.

"She's learning on her own," he said. "I haven't said anything to her about it."

"And yet… she knows how to close them," Fili commented. "Seems a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

Gandalf narrowed his eyes. "It _seems_ that the child understands what she is capable of doing," he corrected dryly.

"Of course," Fili said, holding up his hands. "That's all it is, most definitely."

Gandalf frowned to himself as he watched Fili poke his head into the nursery, and then close the door a bit more, before turning back to the wizard. "Does she know where she goes?" he queried.

"I do not believe so," Gandalf answered. "I don't doubt she just believes it to be another part of the mountain."

"Well, as long as she doesn't know, and closes them behind her… we don't have anything to worry about," Fili said. "Right?"

Gandalf shook his head. "We have no way of knowing. Vicuthar is more powerful on Earth than I had thought he would be."

Fili lowered his gaze to the floor, seeming to consider something. After a moment, he looked up. "Maybe we should tell Cheyanne and Thorin," he said.

"Not an option," Gandalf replied.

"Why not?" Fili asked him. "They _are_ her parents, Gandalf. Don't they deserve to know?"

"To know that their daughter is unknowingly putting herself and the entirety of Middle-earth at risk, and that there is nothing we can do about it?" Gandalf returned. Fili blinked at him, and looked down again. "No," Gandalf said. "I don't believe it is a good idea to tell them."

Because they were busy talking, neither noticed when the door to the nursery opened just the slightest bit. Kamathi poked her head out and glanced around, spotting her cousin and the wizard sitting together. They weren't looking in her direction, and she slipped out of her room before scurrying across the parlor to the door of the apartment.

Without hesitating, she jumped up and struggled to latch onto the door handle. She missed the first time, and she landed with a small grunt. Huffing, the young Dwarf-Hobbit climbed back up to her feet and jumped again. This time, she managed to get the handle, and she landed back on her toes. Pulling as hard as she could, she managed to get the heavy door open just wide enough for her to stick her arm through and push it open further.

Kamathi slid her way through the gap and out into the hallway on the other side. She glanced first one way, and then the other. She'd never been out of the apartment on her own before, which meant the places she had gone exploring weren't many. She had the ambition to change that.

She headed down the left side of the hall, skipping a bit. She didn't know what she was going to find, but she hoped that she'd finally figure out where the place with all the books was. She wanted to be able to show it to Bilbo, who didn't seem to think she was telling the truth whenever she talked about it.

She didn't know if it was an actual place in the mountain, however. She'd only ever gotten to it while in the nursery.

She'd barely made it to the end of the corridor before she heard the sound of heavy boots hitting the floor further down the hall. Kamathi froze, and glanced over her shoulder. She didn't know if she should attempt to get back to the apartment without being caught, or just stay and wait for whoever it was coming down the hall to find her.

With a tiny sigh, the princess settled down on the floor to wait.

"Ah." She glanced up at the voice, and saw Dwalin was the one approaching. He paused a few steps away from where she sat, and glanced over his shoulder. "I think your daughter was trying to escape."

 _Uh oh_.

Cheyanne stepped around Dwalin, and exhaled at the sight of Kamathi seated on the floor.

Her daughter met her gaze, and Cheyanne shook her head to herself when she saw the defeated expression on Kamathi's face.

"Who was watching you?" she queried. "I know it wasn't Bilbo; he would've never let you get this far."

Kamathi rose unsteadily to her feet and started to toddle away from her mother, arms out. "I wanna see -"

Cheyanne easily caught up with her daughter, and lifted her into the air. "Kamathi, you have to stay here," she scolded lightly. "You could easily get lost, and we don't want that happening."

"Not lost," Kamathi stated after a moment.

Cheyanne, taking that as an agreement to her statement rather than an argument, smiled and turned, carrying Kamathi back to the apartment.

Already, both Gandalf and Fili were racing around the system of connected rooms, obviously looking for the princess.

Cheyanne and Dwalin exchanged a glance, and then Cheyanne cleared her throat.

Immediately, Fili, who had been crouched on the floor and looking under the only sofa in the parlor, sat up and glanced over his shoulder towards her, relief covering his face as soon as he saw she carried Kamathi in her arms.

"Gandalf, I found her," he called, rising to his feet.

" _You_ found her?" Cheyanne questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… in theory," Fili responded, shrugging.

Gandalf appeared from the main bedchamber, and he rested his staff on the ground, giving Kamathi an accusatory look that the child much too easily understood for her tender age. She responded by sticking out her tongue at him.

Cheyanne set her down on the floor, and gestured towards the nursery. "Room, now," she ordered.

Kamathi dragged her feet as she walked across the parlor towards the partially opened door of the nursery, and she quietly stepped inside it.

Gandalf took one look at Cheyanne's expression, saw the fire in her eyes, and closed the door with a wave of his staff. Just in time, too, because Cheyanne was crossing her arms, eyes narrowing.

"How did she manage to get past _two_ of you?" the queen demanded.

"She's small," Fili said when Gandalf didn't speak.

"Not good enough," Cheyanne growled. She stalked forward until she could poke Gandalf in the chest. "I know that you have been letting her do whatever she wants whenever you can get away with it, but _this isn't one of your stories_." She pointed towards the closed nursery door. "That is my _daughter_ , not one of your characters. You cannot treat her as such, do you hear me?"

"I -"

"No." Cheyanne held up her hand to cut him off. "I don't want you to try and explain anything. Just… stop treating all this as though it's simply something that's happening in a book. It may be that way for you, but for me, and for Thorin, and for _her_ …" She gestured towards the nursery again. "... this is real, Gandalf, and I don't want anything happening to her. She is not your title character, and so you leave her out of whatever it is you plan on writing next."

Gandalf gazed at her for a long moment without speaking, and Cheyanne stared right back, her fists clenched at her sides.

Finally, the wizard exhaled. "Cheyanne, your daughter _is_ what I'm writing next," he told her.

Cheyanne's eyes hardened even further, if that was possible. "Find something _else_."

"There _is_ nothing else," Gandalf retorted. "You and Thorin are what I wrote, and Kamathi is the product of that. Therefore, I wrote her, too, and I'll be writing her until she chooses to continue writing her story on her own." Gandalf moved both hands to his staff, and gave Cheyanne a steady look. "Only _she_ can decide that, however, just as you did."

Cheyanne seemed ready to smack him, but before she could, a gentle hand took hold of her wrist, and pulled her away from the wizard a few paces. She relaxed only when Thorin placed his arm around her waist, and turned her so that he could pull her against his chest.

"Must you always make things so complicated?" he asked Gandalf, who shrugged.

"It's the way it all works," he said.

Thorin sighed, and passed his hand through Cheyanne's hair. "You must know that he would never put Kamathi in any danger, don't you?" he murmured to the queen.

Cheyanne didn't reply, and Thorin glanced over at Fili. "Your mother is looking for you," he said.

Fili nodded, and gazed at Cheyanne a moment longer before he exited the apartment. Thorin shuffled Cheyanne towards Dwalin.

"Why don't you take her down to the library?" Thorin suggested. "I need to speak with Gandalf."

Dwalin stepped forward and took her arm, moving Cheyanne towards the door of the apartment. "Come on, Chey," he mumbled, glancing back over his shoulder towards Thorin, who offered him a nod.

Dwalin led Cheyanne out of the apartment, closing the door behind him, and then Thorin turned to look at Gandalf, scowling only slightly.

"Thorin…"

"I do not want to know why you write the things you do," Thorin said before Gandalf could speak further. "I only want to know why you cannot leave us alone while you do so."

"You are the things I write, Thorin," Gandalf said. "I have not meddled in your life or Cheyanne's since I helped cure her. Now, however, I must keep a hand in Kamathi's life, or I fear bad things will happen."

"And you're not planning on causing any of those bad things yourself?" Thorin questioned, crossing his arms.

"I will not put your daughter in immediate danger," Gandalf promised. "I care for her, just as I care for Cheyanne. I merely want to write what's necessary for her life to follow a particular path."

"Why can't you let lives follow whatever paths they want to follow?"

"If I did _that_ , you and Cheyanne would not be together," Gandalf responded sharply. "In fact, you would be dead, and so would your nephews. Would you have preferred that?"

Thorin gazed at him for a moment, and then he turned away. "No," he said quietly.

"Then let me do what I must to make sure your daughter receives the same happy ending as you and your wife." Gandalf took a step towards Thorin. "I promise you that all that will happen does so with my best intentions."

Thorin let out a breath. "Can she open portals on her own?" he asked, glancing over at Gandalf. The wizard hesitated a moment, before he nodded, once. The king looked down again. "We cannot tell Cheyanne."

"No," Gandalf agreed, "we cannot."

Thorin nodded to himself, and looked towards the nursery. "She does not understand what she can do, or where she goes."

"No," Gandalf said again. "And she won't, for now."

"For now." Thorin released a mirthless chuckle. "That's a nice thought."

"Perhaps you should speak with her," Gandalf suggested, nodding towards the nursery.

"She's four."

"And what she understands already is far beyond any other child her age."

Thorin had to admit that much was true.

He stepped towards the nursery, and pushed the door open. Kamathi was seated on the edge of her bed, and she looked up when the door opened. Immediately, her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she scooted off of her bed and hurried across the room to where he was.

" _'adad_!"

Thorin leaned down and scooped her up when she reached him. He spun her around in a circle, and then held her away from him, unable to keep from smiling.

"Hello, _kurkarukê_ ," he greeted.

Kamathi responded by reaching forward and wrapping her arms around his neck, sighing happily.

Thorin pressed his hand to the back of her head and closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to keep her in his arms and safe from whatever Gandalf's future for her had in store. He knew that Kamathi would come through it all just fine, because Gandalf wanted her to, but still, as a father, Thorin could only worry.

Kamathi murmured something, and Thorin held her away from him. "What did you say?" he asked her.

"Is Mama mad?"

"No," Thorin replied, smiling again. "No, of course not."

"She yelled."

"I know, but it wasn't about you," Thorin told his daughter.

Kamathi frowned at him, and Thorin exhaled. "Kamathi, have you… have you been… going places without someone with you?"

The princess blinked, then her frown evaporated, and she gave her father a big grin. "Books!"

"Books," Thorin repeated.

Kamathi nodded vigorously. "Books!" she said again. "Unca Bilbo says no, but books!" She struggled to get out of Thorin's arms, and the King set her down on the floor. Grunting, Kamathi climbed to her feet and waddled towards one of the walls of the nursery.

Thorin watched as she planted her feet in front of it, and then she pressed her hands together before spreading them apart, as though she were opening the doors of a cabinet, or a box. As she did so, the wall seemed to open. It parted with a flash of natural light that was not coming from the window, and Thorin let out a breath when he saw where Kamathi had opened a portal.

"Dreamer's," he said quietly, stepping towards the portal.

Kamathi looked up at her father with a wide smile, obviously pleased. "Books!" she said exuberantly, gesturing towards the portal.

"I see them," Thorin assured, crouching down beside her. He peered through the portal, examining the shelves of the bookstore. All of them were indeed covered with books, and although they was severely outnumbered by the amount of books in Erebor's library, there were a lot of them.

Somewhere on the other side of the portal, there was a small _ding_. Thorin stiffened, and glanced down at Kamathi, whose eyes were glittering.

"Kamathi, _kurkarukê_ , I need you to close this," Thorin whispered to her.

She looked up at him, the light in her eyes fading away to be replaced by confusion. "No," she said stubbornly.

" _Yes_ ," Thorin persisted. "Close it. Now."

"Thorin?"

The king glanced up towards the portal again, and saw Jon Davenport standing on the other side, eyes wide. Sighing, Thorin straightened up, picking up Kamathi as well.

"Hello, Jon," he greeted.

"Hi," Jon returned after a moment. "What… what are you doing?"

"Kamathi opened a portal," Thorin answered. "She wanted to show me the books."

Jon looked at the dark haired child that Thorin was holding. " _That's_ Kamathi? But… she's…" He shook his head. "I don't understand."

Jon had seen Kamathi two months ago, when he'd read her the book. She had been much smaller, and her hair had only reached the nape of her neck. Now it was past her shoulders.

"Time must pass differently in your world and ours," Thorin said. "I wish we could talk further, but… I do not know how long we can have this open before Vicuthar comes."

"Right, right," Jon replied quickly. "I just… wow." He shook his head. "She's beautiful, Thorin. You and Cheyanne are doing a great job."

Thorin had to smile at that. "Thank you," he said. He then looked down at Kamathi, who was watching Jon closely, as though she knew who she was, but had no idea why. "I would explain, but…"

"But it's not safe," Jon said for him. "I get it. It's fine."

Thankfully, Gandalf came into the nursery at that moment, and he crossed the room to where Thorin stood before the portal.

"Good to see you, Jon," he greeted, stepping through the portal. He looked back at Thorin. "Take Kamathi out of the room, and the portal will close on its own."

Thorin nodded, and then he frowned. "You're staying?"

"Not for long. I'll be back."

"Fine," Thorin said, and then he turned and carried Kamathi away from the portal. As soon as they were out of the nursery, the portal closed, returning to the normal wall of Dreamer's that Jon was used to. He reached out and touched it with the tip of his finger, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe she's gotten so big," he said to Gandalf. "I just saw her two months ago, and she was… smaller."

"Yes, well, one year for us in Middle-earth is only a month here," Gandalf explained. "Now, Jonathan, we have a few things to discuss."

"Right, well…" Jon shrugged. "I haven't seen robe or hair of Vicuthar, so that's good. Uh… I had no idea that she was opening portals in the shop, but now I do, so there's that, too…"

"Jonathan." He looked at the wizard, and Gandalf exhaled. "I know this must be quite a surprise to you… considering what Cheyanne's decision was, the last time you saw us."

"But you're the writer, and you can do whatever the hell you want when it comes to them, right?"

Gandalf sighed. "That is not the point," he said as calmly as he could manage. "The point is… Thorin knows that Kamathi can open portals, but Cheyanne does not."

"And…?" Jon queried, not seeing what Gandalf was trying to tell him.

"And… she will not know, for as long as we can keep it hidden," Gandalf concluded. "Which means that you _must not_ tell Kamathi who you are, if she ever asks."

"You don't trust her not to tell her mother?"

"Jon, Kamathi is everything her mother is, and more," Gandalf told him. He smiled a bit. "It's remarkable, in fact, just how alike she and Cheyanne are."

Jon swallowed. "I know," he whispered. "I… I know."

Gandalf offered him a sympathetic look, but his voice was stern: "You must not tell her who you are, because if you do, she will tell her mother about you, and what must occur will not."

Jon exhaled shakily, and wiped at his eyes, which were filling with tears. "What needs to happen?" he asked, looking at Gandalf.

"That is for me to know, and for you to react to when it does." Jon glanced downwards, and Gandalf placed his hand on his shoulder. "Promise me, Jon. You will not tell Kamathi who you are."

Jon nodded, once. "I promise," he said, softly. "I… I'm just a bookshop owner."

Gandalf smiled to himself. "Good." He moved away from Jon, and waved his staff in front of the wall. Another portal formed there, leading back into the nursery, and Gandalf stepped through it, glancing back over his shoulder once.

"Keep an eye out for Vicuthar," he advised. "If you see anything out of the ordinary, all you need to do is call for me."

Jon nodded again, and Gandalf closed the portal.

"How did I get wrapped up in all this?" Jon asked himself with a tired sigh, and then he turned away from the portal-vacant wall to open the shop, and begin his day.

* * *

 **Poor Jon!**

 **Uh, translations... _'adad_ means "father"... and that's it. Cool. **


	4. 7 Years - 7 Months

**The author of this FanFiction owns no storylines or characters that belong to the original creator of _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Rings_. **

* * *

"Kamathi!" Cheyanne poked her head into the nursery, and exhaled in frustration when she saw that her daughter was not in the room. She moved away from it and closed the door again, glancing around the parlor. "Where is she?"

"Still haven't found her?" Dwalin asked, finally catching up with the Queen, who'd gone running to the apartment when she realized that Kamathi was not where she was supposed to be.

"No," Cheyanne sighed, covering her face with both hands. "I don't know where she could be."

"No need t' panic," Dwalin said, stepping forward with his hands held out. "I'm sure she's with someone. We just need to find out who."

Cheyanne inhaled shakily, and managed a nod before lowering her hands. "You're right," she said. "It's fine. She's fine."

"Good." Dwalin glanced around the parlor. "I'll go see if I can find Bilbo. Maybe he knows where she is."

Before he could do that, however, the door to the apartment opened, and Kamathi came skipping into the room, humming.

Cheyanne released a relieved gasp, and she hurried towards her daughter, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Ouch," Kamathi complained, feeling suffocated. "Mama, let me go!"

Cheyanne let her out of the hug, but she kept her hands on her shoulders. "Where have you been?" she exclaimed. "You were supposed to be in the library with Dis!"

"I was," Kamathi told her. "Then ' _adad_ came and found me, and told me you wanted to see me."

Cheyanne stared at her. "Why didn't you stay in the library and wait for me?"

" _'adad_ said you were up here," Kamathi said, shrugging out of her grasp. "Why are you being strange?"

"You scared me," Cheyanne replied, more angrily than she meant to. "You shouldn't ever be by yourself! How many times must we tell you?"

"I wasn't by myself!" Kamathi retorted, crossing her arms.

"She wasn't." Cheyanne lifted her gaze from her daughter's annoyed expression and found Thorin entering the apartment, a look similar to one of pity on his own face. He placed a hand on Kamathi's shoulder and tilted his head at Cheyanne. "I would not leave her alone, _bunanunê_. I took her to see Fili and Kili for a few minutes, because she asked."

Cheyanne let out a breath, and glanced down at Kamathi. "Kamathi, I'm… I'm sorry," she said, softly. "I should not have yelled."

"It's all you ever do," Kamathi muttered, pulling away from her father and hurrying towards the nursery.

Cheyanne's shoulders fell, and she bowed her head in defeat. Thorin stepped forward and slid his arm around her waist.

"I'm a terrible mother," she murmured.

"No," Thorin responded immediately.

"I need to stop… worrying so much," Cheyanne insisted. "It's… it's only pushing her away, because she cannot know _why_ I worry."

Thorin pressed a kiss against her head, and then he glanced at Dwalin, who nodded and headed out of the apartment. He passed Balin as he went. The older Dwarf raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and Dwalin lifted his shoulders.

Balin stopped in front of the apartment door, and listened to the muffled murmuring coming from inside for a moment. It seemed that Cheyanne had overreacted once again.

Sighing, Balin knocked, once, and then opened the door so that he could step into the apartment.

Thorin had moved Cheyanne to the sofa, and he glanced up when Balin entered. Without saying anything, he looked towards the nursery. Balin nodded in understanding, and crossed the room to get to it.

He rapped on the door, gently, and then he opened it. Kamathi was seated in the middle of the room, legs crossed and her chin in her hand. She glanced up when Balin poked his head into the room, in the exact same manner Thorin had. Balin couldn't help but smile at the similarity.

"Everything all right?" he queried, stepping fully into the room, and closing the door behind him.

"Why does she always get mad?" Kamathi asked him, her voice breaking.

Balin exhaled, and walked over to where she sat. He settled down in front of her, and reached forward to take her hands.

"Your mother has very good reasons for worrying about you," he told her. "I know that you want to know what those reasons are, but all I can tell you is that they are not taken lightly by anyone, and by your mother least of all. She wants nothing more than to know you are safe at all times, and when she doesn't know, she worries."

"But she doesn't have to _yell_ ," Kamathi said, a tear running down her cheek.

"I know, and so does she," Balin replied quietly. He reached up, and brushed the tear away. "Cheyanne loves you very much. Her anger comes from her relief of knowing that you are perfectly fine."

"Could you tell her to stop it?" Kamathi asked, wiping at her nose.

Balin chuckled. "I'll do my best. Ah, I almost forgot." He reached into the pocket on the coat he wore, and pulled out her present. "Happy birthday, young one."

Kamathi took the present from him, and held it up so that she could look at it better. From what she could tell, it was only a metal lump.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

Balin smiled, and gestured to a small button on the side of it. "Push that," he suggested.

Kamathi did so. The lid, of what she now saw was a compass, popped open, revealing the glass face of the compass itself. The arrow lay on top of a small painted image of a map of Middle-earth, the corresponding directional letters marking the proper places. Currently, the arrow was facing east, towards the Lonely Mountain and what lay beyond it.

Kamathi gazed down at the gift for a moment longer, and then she looked up at Balin, who was still smiling.

"For your sense of adventure," he said. "And so that when you can finally explore, you'll never get lost."

"Thank you, Balin," Kamathi said, quietly. "It's very pretty."

"I'm glad you like it," the old Dwarf responded. He then tried to climb to his feet, but could not, and Kamathi quickly rose herself and pulled him up with her. Balin laughed as his joints creaked and groaned from the strain. "Oh, I'm getting old."

Kamathi giggled, and she glanced down at the compass again, turning it to see if the arrow would follow. It did.

"Middle-earth looks like this?" she questioned, looking at Balin.

He nodded. "Have you not seen pictures of maps in the books in the library?" he asked.

"I don't read _those_ books," Kamathi said with an impatient roll of her eyes. "I read stories."

"Oh, I see," Balin replied, amused. "Well, perhaps if you read more than stories, you'd know that Middle-earth is shaped like that, and you'd know all the places you may get to visit one day, when you are Queen Under the Mountain."

Kamathi's shoulders slumped. "I'll be too busy _ruling_ to travel," she grumbled. Sliding the compass into the pocket on the dress she wore, she moved across the room to the large floor to ceiling window, and pushed it open. Immediately, a rush of fresh air sailed into the room, and Kamathi smiled against it.

"There's so much out there," she said, gesturing to the open fields below her, and to the mountains in the distance. "But… I won't ever be able to see it."

"Why do you think that?" Balin questioned, watching as she leaned against the wall.

"Because my mother is never going to let me leave the mountain," Kamathi responded dryly. "Since she worries so much."

Balin walked towards her, and glanced out the window for himself. He could understand the child's need to leave, seeing this view every day and not being able to experience it for herself. No doubt she wanted to run through those fields, to scale those mountains. And, no doubt, she couldn't see either happening in the near future, because of how protective Cheyanne was of her.

"There are other ways to travel," Balin told her.

Immediately, Kamathi look over at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked, a line appearing between her eyes.

Balin blinked at her, and then realized what he had said, and decided that he needed to tread carefully. "What do you think I mean?" he questioned, hoping he sounded as casual as he wanted to.

Kamathi's eyes narrowed. "Balin…"

"You know what you can do."

Kamathi looked down. "I don't know where I go, but…" She nodded, almost imperceptibly. "I know."

"Who else knows?" Balin asked her, deciding that it was best if he knew everything, so that he would not accidentally tell someone who was not meant to know.

"' _adad_ , and Gandalf," Kamathi responded. "I tried to tell Bilbo a few times, but he doesn't like it."

"So your mother does not," Balin concluded, exhaling.

"No." Kamathi's shoulders rose and fell. "' _adad_ said that if we told her, she'd only worry more."

Balin chuckled. "She would," he admitted. "Most definitely."

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" Kamathi asked, glancing up at him, and Balin shook his head.

"No," he said. "She won't hear it from me, I promise." He peered at her. "Are you being careful?"

"What do you mean?" Kamathi asked, frowning again.

"Do you… close whatever it is that opens?" Balin questioned.

She nodded. "If I left them open, someone might find it, and then I might get in trouble."

Or… _worse_.

Balin sighed in relief. "That's good. You make sure you always close them, all right?"

"Sure," Kamathi replied with a shrug. "How do you know about them?"

"Gandalf… may have mentioned it to me, once," Balin responded.

"Why?"

"I don't know," Balin admitted. "Perhaps he thought I'd be easier to talk to about it."

Kamathi rolled her eyes again. "He just doesn't want to say that he doesn't know anything about it himself."

Balin struggled to keep a straight face. "Possibly." He then thought about it for a moment longer, and then he looked at her. "Kamathi, if you ever do need to speak with someone about it, you may speak with me. Your father and Gandalf are perhaps a bit biased on the subject, but I am an impartial figure." He smiled warmly. "Please, don't hesitate to come to me."

"Thank you," Kamathi said, sounding relieved. "' _adad_ doesn't like to talk about it, and Gandalf talks about it too much." She smiled gratefully at him. "I think you'll be much nicer to talk to than either of them."

Balin nodded. "Of course, Princess. Now." He gestured towards the closed nursery door. "Perhaps we should go see your parents."

Kamathi sighed to herself. "Do we have to?"

"I think so," Balin replied. "After all, we need to discuss this evening."

Kamathi blinked as she followed him towards the door. "What?" she queried.

Balin paused with his hand on the handle, and looked over at her again. "Surely you remember," he said. "Your presentation to everyone? It happens to every future ruler when they reach a certain age during childhood."

Immediately, her shoulders slumped. "Oh, right," she mumbled. "The 'I'm Going to Rule You Someday' thing." She groaned. "I don't want to do that."

"You have to, I'm afraid," Balin replied. "It isn't as though you speak the whole time. You just put on a nice dress, and stand there while your father addresses the Dwarves, and say what you've been practicing with for the past week."

Kamathi peered up at him. "It's a lot easier with no one else in the throne hall."

Balin smiled, and placed an affectionate hand on her head. "It won't take long," he told her. "And afterwards, I will take you to the library and show you some of my favorite books."

"The map ones?" Kamathi asked, sounding bored already.

Balin chuckled and moved his hand back to the door handle. "Believe it or not, I can enjoy a good story now and then as well," he said, pulling the door open.

Cheyanne and Thorin were still seated on the sofa. Cheyanne looked over at them when the door opened, and her gaze softened a bit.

"Kamathi," she began, holding out her hand to her daughter.

Kamathi walked over to her, and Cheyanne gently took her hands. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, sweet melody," she said. "You are very important to me, and when I do not know where you are, it scares me." She reached up and placed her free hand on Kamathi's cheek. "I'll try to stop getting so frustrated, I promise."

Kamathi offered her mother a smile. "It's all right, Mama," she replied. "It's fine that you worry; you just need to stop worrying so much."

Cheyanne laughed, and pulled her daughter into a hug. "Ooh," she whispered, holding her close. "I love you very much."

"Love you too," Kamathi said, burying her face in Cheyanne's shoulder. "Mama?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Do I have to go to the speech thing?"

Cheyanne looked at Thorin from over Kamathi's head, and her husband gave her a smile in an I told you so sort of way.

"Yes, Kamathi," she said with a roll of her eyes at Thorin. "You have to go."

Kamathi groaned against her shoulder. "Can't we do it next year?"

"Are you going to be seven next year?"

Kamathi was silent for a moment as she thought about it. "For a little while," she said at last, and Balin let out an amused snort from where he stood by the nursery.

Cheyanne smiled to herself and let Kamathi out of her grasp. She tapped her on the nose. "Chin up," she instructed. "It will last no longer than fifteen minutes, I promise."

"And then Balin can take me back to the library?" Kamathi asked hopefully, her eyes glittering.

Cheyanne's smile faded a bit, and she looked first at Balin, and then at Thorin, who nodded slightly.

Sighing silently, Cheyanne turned back to Kamathi, and managed to put her smile back on her face. "Sure, but only for a little while."

Thus, with the promise of library time with Balin, Kamathi was glad to put on the dress that had been made for the presentation event. It was reminiscent of the dress she had worn during her introduction to Earth, but of course, she didn't remember much of that, and therefore, didn't know of the similarities between the two purple dresses.

Cheyanne, who took on the task of wrangling Kamathi's hair into a braid for her, completed it with only about five minutes to spare before they had to be down in the throne hall, and she stepped back from her daughter, eyeing the braid critically.

"Well," she said after a moment's thought. "I definitely shouldn't be allowed to do hair."

"Mama," Kamathi complained, turning her head so that she could see the braid herself. Cheyanne had never learned how to braid, and so she'd spent the years she'd been married to Thorin trying to perfect the art. Obviously, doing two small, simple braids he wore within his hair was a task she was more suited for.

Kamathi sighed and undid the braid, reaching up behind her head in order to do it for herself. Cheyanne watched, wondering if braiding hair was a gift all Dwarves were born with, half Hobbit or not.

Kamathi finished the braid in record time, managing to pull it into a tightly weaved four-strand thing that Cheyanne would never be able to do, no matter how long she practiced.

Still, she smiled to herself when Kamathi stood and turned to face her. "Beautiful, sweet melody," she told her.

Kamathi, however, already looked tired. "Only fifteen minutes, right?" she asked through a yawn, and Cheyanne chuckled, stepping forward to slip her arm around her daughter's shoulder.

"Of course," she assured, and then she led Kamathi back out into the parlor of the apartment.

Thorin was waiting for them, dressed up for the event as well, the heavy crown resting on top of his head. Cheyanne blinked when she noticed it, and reached up to feel for her own crown.

"Crud," she muttered under her breath, and quickly parted for her own bedchamber to retrieve it.

Kamathi watched her go, eyebrows drawn, and she glanced at her father in confusion. "What's 'crud'?" she questioned.

"Just… something they say in the Shire, when they're upset about something," Thorin replied as quickly as he could.

"Oh." Kamathi wasn't convinced.

Cheyanne reemerged, delicately placing her crown atop her head, and she let out a relieved breath, shoulders falling. "All right," she said to her family. "I think we all look wonderful. Let's get this done."

Thorin and Kamathi exchanged a glance, but nonetheless, they both nodded in response to Cheyanne's statement, and together, the royal family made their way out of their apartment and down to the throne room.

They took the long way around, so that they would start at the bottom of the long set of stairs that led up to the throne itself, the way that they'd practiced for about a week already.

Balin was at the foot of the stairs waiting for them, and Kamathi could hear the excited murmuring coming from inside the throne hall, where countless Dwarves waited.

She looked up at her parents. Thorin looked like he was about to step in front of someone he was completely comfortable talking to, and convince them of something ridiculous. Her mother, however, was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, something Kamathi unconsciously did as well when she saw Cheyanne do it. Despite having been Queen Under the Mountain for quite some time, Cheyanne was still nervous about speaking to so many people at once.

Kamathi exhaled, and straightened her shoulders in a similar manner to the way Cheyanne had done so before, in the apartment. If she was going to be queen herself, she best get used to speaking to this many people on a regular basis.

It shouldn't be too difficult. She just needed to imagine she was only speaking with one person, someone she knew and trusted, like her father did. Like Balin had suggested she do, when he'd been advising her on this the day before, during one of their 'mandatory' conversations.

That was what her mother called them, anyhow.

Kamathi, however, liked talking with Balin. The old Dwarf knew a lot, and he didn't mind telling her about anything she was curious on. However, she hadn't realized how little she herself knew about Balin and what he knew until their earlier conversation, in her bedchamber. She needed to learn more from him.

"Are you ready?" Balin asked, looking at all three of them.

Thorin nodded. "Hopefully this will be painless," he said, smiling a bit.

Balin patted him on the shoulder, and then bowed slightly to Cheyanne, before he turned to Kamathi.

"Trust me," he began, his eyes twinkling. "This won't take as long as you think it will."

Kamathi decided that she did trust him, and so she dipped her head in agreement, and then turned to face the stairs.

Balin winked at Thorin and Cheyanne, and then headed up the stairs ahead of the royal family, grunting a bit from the effort of climbing. As he entered the throne hall, the sound of music began from inside, and Cheyanne nudged Kamathi with her hand, urging her forward.

"Go on," she whispered. "We're right behind you."

Kamathi stumbled over her dress, but she managed to regain her balance before reaching the first step, which she mounted with as much grace as she was able. As soon as she entered the throne hall, she was met by a chorus of cheers, which turned into a song as she glanced from side to side, looking out at all the Dwarves that were attending her presentation.

There were a lot of them, and they lined both sides of the walkway and the stairs leading up to the throne. All of them were singing the song that had been sung during presentations of royalty Under the Mountain for centuries. The music coming from the big drums and horns closer to the throne, paired with the Khuzdul lyrics of the song made her heart swell, and Kamathi lifted her chin with a grin, more confident than ever.

She reached the throne just ahead of her parents, who had been right behind her, as Cheyanne had said they would be, and all three of them turned around to face the gathered Dwarves just as the last note was hit on the drums, the last note was blown on horns, and the last note was sung by the Dwarves.

They then burst into more cheering, and Kamathi set her shoulders once more. She felt comfortable standing before her people in this manner, no doubt because of the royal blood she had flowing within her. She imagined that the countless Kings Under the Mountain that had stood in the place where she stood now, before the throne, between her parents, had all felt just as comfortable as she did.

Still, however, she couldn't stop herself from using her forefinger to twist the ring she wore around her thumb in anticipation and the slightest bit of nervousness.

Thorin stepped forward slightly, a sign he was about to speak, and the Dwarves went quiet almost at once.

"Dwarves of Erebor!" His voice echoed proudly throughout the throne hall chamber, and Kamathi smiled to herself. It sounded _really_ neat.

Thorin stepped back again, and gestured towards her. "My daughter, and your Princess Under the Mountain."

Kamathi grinned widely, and lifted her hand in a greeting.

The Dwarves cheered again. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Thorin turned back to the gathering, and continued, "As you all know, it is a tradition for the next King, or, as the case may be, the next _Queen_ Under the Mountain to be presented at three separate times in their lives. Once when they are nothing more than a babe, again when they are a child, and one last time, when they reach a mature age. Since Kamathi is aging a bit differently than Dwarves do, we have decided that the mature age she will be presented at is eight-and-ten-years."

He looked to Cheyanne. "Your queen and I have decided that Kamathi has reached the appropriate childhood age during which she should be presented again, and we are doing so now."

Cheyanne stepped forward, now. "Your princess has been studying the art of being a ruler, including all that comes with leading an army, sitting in council meetings, and listening in on court sessions. She still has a long way to go, but her future as Queen Under the Mountain looks very promising."

Thorin looked at Kamathi, who was waiting patiently for her turn to speak. "Princess, do you have anything you wish to say to the Dwarves of Erebor, who you will one day rule, like the Kings Under the Mountain who came before you?"

Kamathi took her own step forward, and looked out at everyone. For a moment, her breathing hitched dangerously, when she actually allowed herself to see all the eyes of the Dwarves standing before and below her, but then she picked out a familiar face in the crowd.

Balin nodded to her, encouragingly, and Kamathi's breathing returned to normal. She began: "I promise to all the Dwarves of Erebor that I will learn to rule with the same wisdom, courage, and fairness that all the Kings Under the Mountain before me have ruled with. I will take my place as queen when my times comes, and I will lead the way, with you all to guide me."

Almost at once, the loudest cheer of all burst from the crowd, and Kamathi exhaled in relief, stepping back again. Cheyanne reached out and took her hand, squeezing it.

"So proud," she said just loud enough for Kamathi to hear.

Kamathi smiled to herself, and looked out over the Dwarves. They were all relying on her to become the best ruler she could be. She knew that she couldn't let them down.

But, even as she let their cheers and the music that had begun again float over her and through her, she couldn't ignore the tiny voice inside of her, the voice that was still urging her to look for adventure _beyond_ Erebor.

She knew that she couldn't have both. And she couldn't even pretend that she could have both for much longer.

After all, she had just promised an entire kingdom that she was ready and willing to rule them when the time came. She couldn't allow her heart to be divided down the middle with love for her people, and love for the adventure that she hadn't even had the chance to experience yet.

So, with slowly growing despair, she thought the same word her mother had said out loud, to express her frustration.

 _Crud_.

* * *

 **I dunno if I've translated it before, so _bunanunê_ means 'tiny treasure'. **


	5. 10 Years - 10 Months

**The author of this FanFiction owns no storylines or characters that belong to the original creator of _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Rings_. **

* * *

Kamathi let out a frustrated exclamation and slammed the book of Dwarven history that was resting on the table in front of her closed.

"Why are there _so many famous Dwarves_?" she demanded of Balin, who was quietly sitting in a different armchair than she was, reading a book of his own. His was about birds, which Kamathi didn't think was anymore an interesting topic than the one she was currently studying, but nonetheless, Balin's eyes were shining.

"When I die," he began after she'd glowered at him for a moment, "I'm going to come back as one of these." He turned the book around to show her what he was talking about, and Kamathi frowned at the picture of the raven he was pointing to. "Otherwise, I've been wrong my whole life, and chose the wrong tattoo."

"What are you talking about?" Kamathi asked tiredly, and Balin set his book down before standing and turning around, pulling down the back of the shirt he was wearing. Indeed, over one of his shoulder blades was a tattoo of a raven in flight.

Kamathi peered at it for a moment, and then she huffed and glared down at her own book. "Why are you acting weird?"

Balin chuckled. "I'm one of the oldest Dwarves in Erebor," he said, picking up his book of birds again. "It's my job."

Kamathi rolled her eyes, continuing to glare at her book. "Why are there so many famous Dwarves?" she asked again, a bit more quietly than before.

"Because Dwarven history is long and tedious," Balin responded with a yawn. "There's been a lot that's happened, and different Dwarves are involved with each new event." He pointed to the book she'd been reading. "That only goes back to about three hundred years ago."

Kamathi groaned and slid down in the armchair she was seated in, covering her face with her hands.

"You know," Balin went on, amused, "your mother had the same reaction when she was given the task of learning the entirety of Dwarven history. You know what I told her?"

"What?" Kamathi questioned from behind her hands.

"I told her to memorize the most important things, and forget everything else," Balin responded, and then he laughed.

Kamathi didn't bother laughing along. Instead, she lowered her hands, and opened her book again. "What're the important things?" she mumbled, and Balin set his own book down to direct her to the correct pages.

Before Kamathi could start reading about the Dwarven kings and their magic rings, however, both her mother and father came into the library, flanked by their nephews, her cousins Fili and Kili.

Out of respect, Balin stood and bowed to them. Kamathi remained where she was, not noticing when Thorin and Cheyanne exchanged a glance.

"Kamathi," Thorin began.

"Hmm?"

"Your cousins have something to show you," the king told her.

At this, Kamathi glanced up from her book, and raised an eyebrow at her two cousins, who were both grinning. "What?" she asked warily.

"We know it's your birthday tomorrow…" Kili began.

"... and we wanted to give you your present early," Fili finished.

Kamathi glanced from one to the other. "Is it a present I actually want?" she asked after a moment, and the brothers grinned at her in sync. "Stop doing that! It's terrifying."

"I don't know, Kee. Do you think she wants this present?" Fili asked his brother.

"I think she wants this present," Kili replied with a shrug. "But… if she's too scared…"

"I am _not_ scared," Kamathi said immediately. She stood up, and crossed her arms, eyeing her cousins critically. "What is it?"

They exchanged another glance, and then looked at her parents, as though asking permission. Thorin rolled his eyes while Cheyanne nodded encouragingly, gesturing.

They turned back to her, and Fili pulled a strap off of his shoulder, which was attached to a scabbard that Kamathi hadn't noticed he was carrying. He took the scabbard in his hands, and then he bowed to her, holding it out.

Kamathi took it from him, admiring the leather. She then glanced up from it to her cousins, who were beaming again, and then at her parents. Cheyanne was wringing her hands, but she nodded again. Thorin winked, and put his hand over her mother's.

Kamathi looked back down at the scabbard, and took hold of the leather wrapped hilt that was sticking out of one end. In a swift motion, she pulled out the weapon it was attached to, dropping the scabbard as the weight of the sword she was now holding called for all her strength.

Kamathi's heart sped up as she examined the weapon. It was a sword, most definitely, but even she could tell that it was shorter than the average weapon that the Dwarves use. It was made of a white steel that she couldn't name, and the blade was curved inwards on both sides. The hilt itself was wrapped in a dark leather that needed to be handled a lot more before it would soften. The guard was lined with sparkling sapphires.

"It's beautiful," she whispered after a moment, looking up at her cousins.

"We had it forged once Thorin told us that you needed to start your training," Fili told her.

"We used Bilbo's sword as inspiration," Kili added.

Looking back down at her weapon, Kamathi could definitely see the resemblance between it and Bilbo's Sting. Of course, this one had a distinct Dwarven craftsmanship to it, while Sting had most definitely been forged by Elves.

"Thank you," she said, smiling softly. "I'll put it to good use."

"I hope so," Thorin said as she bent down to retrieve the scabbard, "but not quite yet."

Kamathi frowned, and looked at her father in confusion. "But… I thought -"

"The sword is still much too big for you," Thorin said, cutting her off. "You won't be able to put it to real use until you've grown a bit more. However… your cousins were eager."

"Don't worry, Kamathi," Fili began cheerfully. "I'm going to teach you everything you need to know about handling a blade."

"And, if you like, I'll teach you some archery, too," Kili offered. "Every prince or princess should be well rounded in all weaponry, after all."

Kamathi turned her gaze back down to her sword, and smiled at her reflection in the blade, before she nodded and slid the weapon away into the scabbard once more. "I think that's a good idea," she agreed, turning her grin to her cousins.

"But you won't be learning from just these two," Cheyanne put in, stepping forward between her nephews. She gave them both looks, and then turned to her daughter. "Dwalin said he'd teach you, too, when he has time."

Kamathi nodded agreeably, and then she looked at her father, hopefully. Thorin pretended he didn't see her, and he reached for the scabbard. Her expression fell, and she handed him her sword.

"I'll put this somewhere safe, until you are big enough to handle it," he promised her, sliding the strap over his shoulder.

Cheyanne reached out and placed her hand against the back of Kamathi's neck, tilting her head forward until she could kiss the top of it. "Supper tonight with Bilbo," she reminded her, and Kamathi nodded again.

With that, Cheyanne slid her hand through the crook of Thorin's elbow, and the king and queen exited the library together.

Fili crouched down next to the book that was sitting on top of the table. "Ooh, Dwarven history," he said with a sharp inhale. "That's no fun."

"No," Kamathi mumbled, "it really isn't."

Fili glanced first at Kili, who nodded excitedly, and then at Balin, who offered him a benign smile and a wave of his hand, a wave that said _Do whatever you want_.

He then turned a grin on his young cousin, who raised an eyebrow at him. "What now?"

"What do you say we get out of here?" Fili suggested, gesturing towards the doors of the library with his head.

Kamathi's eyes widened, and she glanced at Balin, who had his eyes closed, and his hands resting on his chest. "But… I shouldn't," she said, looking down at the book.

"Why not?"

"Balin's sitting right there," Kamathi reminded Kili, pointing to the old Dwarf.

"I believe the point of 'sneaking away' is reduced considerably when you point out that you are doing so to the one you are sneaking away from," Balin said, eyes still closed.

Kamathi frowned for a moment as she processed this, and then her eyes brightened when she realized that Balin was saying he didn't care if she left. So, giggling, she pressed her finger to her lips, and dramatically waved her hand for her cousins to follow her out of the library.

The three of them did so, laughing, and Balin smiled to himself as he opened one eye and watched them go.

Fili took the lead after they'd escaped the library, and he led Kili and Kamathi down the corridor to the first set of stairs they could find. They started down them without zero hesitation.

"Where are we going?" Kamathi asked him, trailing behind Kili.

"I thought we could get your training started immediately," Fili responded without looking back. He was taking the steps two at a time, and from the noises behind him, he thought Kili was, too. Kamathi, however, had short legs, still, and was scurrying down the stairs as quickly as she could without stumbling.

They finally made it down to the level where the armory and the training areas for Erebor's army and guard were, and Fili led the way past the groups that were doing drills and training individually or in pairs. Kamathi glanced around at them all, awestruck.

She'd seen the Dwarven guards around the mountain, of course. Wherever she went, and wherever her parents were, at least three were posted, sometimes following them, or sometimes outside of the room where they were. Dwalin was her mother's personal guard, and he was with her at all times.

However, on occasion, Kamathi would be left without guards watching her every move, usually when she was with Balin, or someone else her parents trusted implicitly. The guards that had been outside the library had not followed her and her cousins, so she assumed they were on her parents' safety list as well.

Fili finally stopped in a more secluded area of the large room, near a rack of wooden weapons. Kamathi eyed them.

"Wood?" she finally asked, looking at Fili, who was pulling weapons off of the rack and weighing them in his hands.

"Everyone starts out with wood," Kili explained, taking the sword that Fili handed to him. He walked across the mat that was laid over the stone floor to prevent injuries from rough falls, and held it out to her. "Just to prevent cuts and things of the like."

"Only the best warriors use steel in the training room," Fili added, turning back around with two other swords in his hands. "Since you've never touched a weapon in your life... this is the smartest choice."

Kamathi gazed at the wooden sword Kili was trying to give her for a moment, and then she took it. "I have touched a weapon," she said. "Just now, remember?"

Fili rolled his eyes while Kili chuckled.

"You haven't _wielded_ a weapon, then," the blond Dwarf amended. "Better?"

"Yes," Kamathi replied, sounding pleased. "So…" She adjusted her grip on the wood sword about four different times before finding something that actually felt comfortable. "Where do we start?"

"Well, usually you start by holding it right," Kili replied with a wide grin.

Kamathi frowned. "There's a right way to _hold_ it?" she demanded, looking down at her grip. "I just thought you held it in the way that felt the best."

"After a while, the right way does feel the best," Fili responded. He took a step forward and moved her fingers around a bit, and then nodded to himself after examining their positioning. "That's the right grip."

Kamathi was still frowning, more from pain this time. "This hurts."

"The sword weighs a bit," Fili pointed out. "You just need to work up your strength, and it won't bother you as much." He adjusted her grip again. "Don't squeeze it so hard."

"But I'll drop it," Kamathi argued, her arm lowering dangerously without the extra grip.

"It's part of your arm," Fili told her. "You can't drop part of your arm."

Kamathi narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you talking about?"

Fili exchanged a look with Kili, who offered his brother a shrug and crossed his arms to watch.

Fili turned his gaze back to Kamathi. "You'll get it eventually," he told her. He then took several steps back. "Now… try to hit me."

Kamathi's frown deepened. "You want me to hit you?"

"I want you to try to hit me," Fili corrected, smiling. "Go on." He turned away from her, to walk away a bit further, but before he could get very far, Kamathi let out a yell and charged him. Fili easily stepped away from this, and Kamathi shot right past him to the other end of the mat, stumbling a bit from lack of impact.

Fili turned to face her, holding out his sword, and Kamathi gazed at his position for a moment before mimicking it to the best of her abilities.

She then took several swings at him, putting two hands around the hilt of her sword as she did so. Fili fended off all of them, and then spun away from her when she tried a heavy downwards blow. Kamathi fell to the ground with a grunt. Fili turned to face her, and tapped the mat with the edge of his sword as a silent command for her to get back up.

Kamathi struggled to her feet, holding the sword with two hands, and Fili shook his head at her. She rolled her eyes, but all the same went back to using one hand instead. She let out another yell as he turned away from her again, and Fili reached back with his sword to block her attack before swinging around to look at her and fending off even more badly placed swings.

He knocked her sword from her hand, and Kamathi bent down to retrieve it, but before she could, Fili picked it up for himself. He gestured with his head for her to follow him, and he led her back to the center of the mat. Kamathi walked around until she was facing him again, and Fili tossed the sword to her.

Kamathi caught it with a gasp, and Fili smiled approvingly. Kamathi grinned back, and settled into the position he'd shown her before.

She jumped at him, but he swung his sword around and tapped at her leg. "Dead," he said.

Kamathi grinned again, and took a different swing instead. She moved the sword away from her body, and Fili let his sail into her belly. "Dead!" he stated, giving her a look.

Kamathi glanced down at his sword, and then up at him, before bringing up her own and trying again. Fili easily knocked it away and Kamathi lunged forward. Fili grabbed her wrist with his free hand, and brought his sword up until it was pointed directly at her face.

" _Very_ dead," he informed her, and Kamathi let out a breathy laugh.

"Again," Fili said, letting go of her wrist and backing away. Kamathi tried something she hadn't done already, but Fili grabbed her arm and spun her around several times until their swords _clacked_ together. He glanced sideways at them, and then down at her.

"No," he said, stepping away from her.

"I don't know what I'm doing!" she exclaimed.

"That's why we're here," Fili reminded her. "We're training."

"And this is training? Me swinging at you, but you not telling me what I'm doing wrong?"

Fili raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you repeating any of the things that you already tried once?" he queried.

Kamathi opened her mouth to retort, and then her eyebrows drew together, and her mouth closed. "No."

"See?" Fili nodded to her. "You're learning without me telling you anything."

Kamathi eyed him, and then she looked at Kili, who was watching this exchange with a small smile. "Who trained the two of you?" she asked him.

"Balin," Kili answered, "along with some others."

"Did my father?"

Kili looked at Fili before responding. "He was there once or twice," he said after a moment.

Kamathi let her arm droop until the tip of her sword hit the mat. "Why doesn't he want to train me?"

Another glance was exchanged between her cousins, and then Fili gestured for her to sit, which he did himself. Kamathi sat as well, and looked from one to the other as Kili came over to join them.

"Is he scared or something?" she asked, and Fili shook his head.

"I don't think that's the biggest reason, no, but…" He trailed off, and looked at Kili for help.

"Our father didn't help to train us, either," Kili said.

"Your father?" Kamathi's eyes lit up with interest. "No one ever talks about him."

Fili smiled lightly. "For good reason," he told her. "Vili, our father, he died a long time ago."

"I don't think I was any older than you are now," Kili put in, nudging Kamathi's knee with the tip of his sword.

"Oh." Kamathi looked crestfallen. "That's why he didn't help to train you, then."

"You could say that," Fili answered. "But… think of it this way. By having us teach you, it's almost like your father is teaching you, right?"

Kamathi didn't look convinced.

"We're teaching you what he taught us," Kili explained. "So, really, you're just learning what he knows, from a different source."

"But what if I want to learn from him?" Kamathi asked drearily, and her cousins looked at one another.

"Well," Fili started, "you could always ask."

Kamathi's head shot up, and she shook it roughly. "No!"

"Why not?" Kili queried.

"Because he'd… look at me funny," Kamathi replied, lowering her voice. "You know?"

They did, both of them.

"That might be the only way he'll consider it, kid," Fili told her. "I don't think he'll decide to do it all on his own."

Kamathi sighed, but she knew he was right. If she wanted to learn from her father, she'd have to say so, and face whatever response he offered her.

Later that evening, at supper in the dining hall closest to the apartment, Kamathi was sitting down to an early birthday dinner with her parents and Bilbo. Bilbo was busy chatting to her mother about something that had happened between him and Gandalf earlier on in the day, and Cheyanne was responding with the appropriate sympathetic noises, a skill she'd picked up over the years of listening to people complain to her.

Since her mother and her uncle were distracted, Kamathi turned to her father, who was sitting at the head of the table, to her right.

"' _adad_?" she started, and he looked up from the report he'd brought to the table, about the envoy he'd sent to Mirkwood.

"Yes, _kurkarukê_?"

"I… I wanted to ask you something," she said, glancing downwards to her nearly empty plate.

"Anything," Thorin replied, setting aside his report. "What do you need?"

Kamathi continued to stare down at her plate, and Thorin waited, knowing that she liked to take her time when it came to asking for something.

"I… I want you to help train me," Kamathi finally said, softly.

Thorin gazed at her, and she gazed at her plate. After a moment, he leaned back in his chair. "Why? Do you not want to learn from your cousins?"

"No, I do," Kamathi said quickly, looking up, "but… I want to learn from you, too."

Thorin was silent for a time, and Kamathi waited as patiently as she was able, her leg bouncing beneath the table. She watched her father's face, searching for any sign of his decision, but Thorin was giving away nothing.

Finally, however, he looked at her again, and smiled a bit. "If I ever find the time to attend one of your training sessions, I will come down and join in, all right?"

Kamathi gazed at him, not entirely sure if he meant it. Instead of pressing further, because she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere, she merely nodded and returned her attention to her plate.

Thorin returned his own to his report after another moment.

When the meal had been finished, and Bilbo had wished Kamathi a happy birthday, and all three of them a good night, the royal family retired to their apartment. Kamathi gave both her parents kisses, and she disappeared into her bedchamber.

Thorin gazed at the door after it closed for a minute or two while Cheyanne tossed another log into the fire that was already going in the parlor's fireplace. When she turned around and touched his shoulder, Thorin glanced down at her instead.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Kamathi asked me to help train her," Thorin replied with a shake of his head. He led the way into their own bedchamber, and Cheyanne followed him in confusion, closing the door behind her.

"And… this is a bad thing?" she queried, watching as he crossed the room to their attached closet.

"No, of course not," Thorin answered, disappearing into it. "I just wish I actually had the time to train her."

"Oh." Cheyanne understood, now. "You don't want to agree to it because you don't think you'll ever have the time, and that you'll let her down."

Thorin reemerged from the closet, dressed down considerably, and he nodded. "Exactly."

Cheyanne smiled and crossed the room to get to where he paused in front of their wash basin, gazing at himself in the looking glass attached to the wall over it. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead against his back.

"I don't think you could ever let our daughter down, Thorin," she told him. "She understands that you're busy."

"I'm sure she does, but… it bothers me that I can't be as involved in her life as I want to be," Thorin said quietly. "I want to be there for her, whenever she needs me to be, but I can't, all because I have an entire mountain to look out for as well."

He exhaled, and looked down at the resting water in the basin. "When she was born, I swore to myself that I would not do what my father did, which was leave me and my siblings to nurses and our closest relatives while he was busy with his princely duties. I thought that maybe I could avoid it, but…"

"But it's different, because you're the king, not a prince," Cheyanne finished for him. "Thorin, Kamathi knows that you have a lot to do, each day. She knows that you give her as much of your time as you possibly can, and I promise you that she knows that you _will_ help train her, if you can."

Thorin glanced upwards, and he turned around so that he could face her. She smiled up at him, and leaned up on her toes in order to kiss him, gently.

"You're doing the best you can," she told him, settling back down. "Kamathi and I both know it, so don't you worry."

Thorin wished he was reassured by Cheyanne's words, but something inside him kept it from happening. He didn't necessarily think that he was being a _bad_ father; after all, he was spending as much time with Kamathi as he could, whether it be personal or otherwise.

He just wished that he could spend _more_ personal time with her, and with Cheyanne, too.

He'd always known that being King Under the Mountain would alter the amount of time he was able to use for himself, and he'd swore that it wouldn't lead to any problems.

It seemed that, no matter how hard he tried, there was always going to be some reason that he couldn't give Kamathi what she wanted.

"I'm going to go see her," he said to Cheyanne, who had walked away towards their bed. She nodded to him, and Thorin exited the bedchamber, leaving the door open.

He crossed the parlor to the door leading into Kamathi's room, and he knocked on it. After a moment, Kamathi's voice could be heard through it: "Come in."

Thorin opened the door, and found Kamathi seated on her bed, legs crossed. She had the compass Balin had given her open and resting on one of her knees. A big book lay open on her lap.

"Hi," she said, glancing up at Thorin, who smiled back, closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, crossing the room to her bed.

"Balin left this book for me," she explained, sliding over so that he could sit beside her. Thorin did so, and watched as she pointed to the page she had the book open to, which happened to be a drawing of Middle-earth. "I was trying to figure out how far away the Shire is from here."

"Well…" Thorin took the book and moved it so that it lay across both their laps instead. "It's rather far. You'd have to go through Mirkwood, and then cross the Misty Mountains, before coming even close."

"Right," Kamathi sighed, glancing at her compass. "The map in there made it seem a lot closer than it actually is."

Thorin looked at his daughter. Her hair was beginning to fall out of its braid, and a few strands dangled in her eyes. He reached over and tucked one behind her ear, which drew her attention to him.

"I'm sorry about earlier, during dinner," he said.

"Don't be," Kamathi responded, frowning. "It's not your fault; you have a lot of things to do. I shouldn't have asked, and made you feel guilty."

"I should feel guilty," Thorin decided, moving the book off to the side so that he could turn to face her. "I am your father, after all; I should want to train you more than anything else."

Kamathi's frown deepened. "Do you not want to?" she asked him, and Thorin immediately shook his head.

"No, of course I do," he said, and then he let out a breath. "I suppose what I said came out the wrong way. I do want to help train you, very much."

"But you don't have time," Kamathi concluded. "I know that; we already talked about it." She tilted her head, reminding him of himself. "Why are we talking about it again?"

Thorin glanced downwards. "I don't know," he admitted, and Kamathi laughed. He chuckled as well, and looked at her. "I suppose I wanted to make sure that you weren't angry with me."

"I'm not," Kamathi told him, and then she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I know you want to spend time with me and Mama, but you can't because you have so much else to do. It's all right, really."

Thorin returned the hug, closing his eyes. "Thank you, _kurkarukê_ ," he murmured. "I'm glad you understand."

"I might as well," Kamathi said, pulling out of the hug. "I'll be in your position one day, right?"

Thorin smiled at her, tucking another loose strand of hair behind her other ear. "Exactly." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Time for bed."

Kamathi allowed him to take her compass and book, and she crawled beneath the blanket as he placed them on the table beside the bed. He then turned around to face her again, and crouched down so that he was at her level.

"Sleep well, Kamathi," he said, softly, and then blew out the candle on the table.

He stood up, and started to move away from the bed, towards the door. As he neared it, Kamathi spoke from behind him, bringing him to a pause: "' _adad_." He turned around, and saw Kamathi smile at him. " _Amralizu_."

"I love you, too," Thorin replied, smiling back. "Get some sleep."

Kamathi rolled over away from him, and Thorin stepped out of her bedchamber, closing the door softly behind him.

 _I may not be able to spend all my time with her_ , he thought to himself, heading for his own chamber, _but at the very least she knows I try as hard as I can._

* * *

 **Translations:**

 ** _kurkarukê_ \- 'little raven'**

 ** _Amralizu - '_ I love you'**

 **The training scene was inspired by Arya's training lesson with Syrio Forel in the first season of Game of Thrones.**


End file.
